Vintage threads from the first ten years

Washburn PUP maker?

Washburn PUP maker?I bought a new Mexican Strat and done everything I can think of (Shielding, Star Ground, Change Tone Caps. reset distance to strings) and it still sounds like crap through a kazoo! I have a $50 Pawnshop Washburn BT3 Maverick that I bought busted just for the parts(it was new but some kid "dive bomb" busted the bridge mount out of the body.)Anyway I fooled around and fixed it, and it sounds SOOO much better than my new Strat! The Wash' can go from that sweet "Tele" twang to really deep full sound that I love. I'd like to transplant some of those pups into the Strat, but there are no ID marks on the pups for the Washburn. Does Washburn make their own in house or do they buy from a pickup maker? Even though that little BT3 just cost me $50 bucks, it has become one of my favorites and I just can't bring myself to strip it for parts because it plays circles around the Strat! Are all the PUPS in Mexican Strats junk, or did I just get a turkey?

Hi Jim
I am juan and I make picks for my self for the moment. I also got a mexican strat and I found that the pics were of ceramic. In a fender amp the sound was good for me, but in other amps the sound was bad, so I decided to change the pics for some w/ alnico five. I did the three pics with new wire and alnico 5 and the sound changed to a best sound.
I got a Washburn (the same like yours) and this has P-90 (Epiphone) that I converted with Alnico 5 polopieces and I think the sound improved. Others washburns have humbuckers w/out cover. Whish ones has your guitar?
Juan

My Washburn is a Maverick series BT3. It is a shorter scale (Like Gibson) but the 3 single coil pickups are laid out exactally like a Strat. The Volume, tone knobs and 5-way switch look exactally like a Strat. In fact I replaced the switch with one for a Strat because the Washburn switch had been damaged. I did some measuring and the pickups are physically the same size, so they would be a direct fit. I measured the resistance of both the Strat and the Washburn and this is what I got:
Strat: Neck=6.86k Mid=6.66k Bridge=6.8k
Washburn:Neck=5.26k Mid=5.35k Bridge=5.47k
Both are strung with the same Fender Bullit 10's, but there is a HUGE difference in the tone between them!

Before you get any new pickups for the Strat I would install the Whasburn in the Fender and see how they sound. The wood, finish, neck, and bridge also effect the tone. Personally I can't stand the sound of those creamic strat pickups, and I also prefer the tone of a strat pickup with resistance numbers of the Washburn pickups you listed.

Jim C, before you make the test as Curt recomended you, first see if the wash pics are ceramic or with Alnico 5. If the wash picks don't have ceramic on the botton they are A 5, but if they have ceramic, the sound is going to be very cimilar to the fender pics. Other wise, if the sound of the wash pics like you in the Fender, your gain!!
juan